Portland transcript vol 18 no. 14

POLYGAMY.
ITS EFFECTS AMONG THE MORMONS.
Mr. Ferris, who has lived in Utah, has re-cently published a book upon the Mormons and their institutions. He thus speaks of the effects of polygamy upon their
DOMESTIC ECONOMY.
"Polygamy is introducing a new style of building at Salt Lake City. A man with half a dozen wives builds, it he can, a long, low dwelling, having six entrances from the outside; and when he takes in a new wife, if able to do so, adds another apartment.—The object is to keep the women and ba-bies, as much as possible, apart, and prevent those terrible cat-fights which sometimes oc-cur, with all the accompaniments of Bill-ings gate, torn caps, and broken broom-sticks. As the 'divine institution' extends, these buildings increase, and in a few years the city will look like a collection of bar-racks for the accommodation of soldiers.—Some have separate buildings in parts of the dty remote from each other, and others have farm-houses, and the wives are thus kept separate, the husband dividing his time between them all."
EFFECT OF POLYGAMY UPON POPULATION.
"The effect upon population is decidedly deleterious. The prophet Joseph had over forty wives at Nauvoo, and the rest of the priesthood had various numbers, corres-ponding to their standing and inclinations; and nearly all the children of these polyga-mous marriages died at that plac; indeed, it is alleged by Mormons that not one was taken to Utah. Brigham Young has thirty children, of whom eight are by his first and second lawful wives; the remaining twenty-two are by his spirituals. He has about fif-ty wives, some of whom were widows of Joseph Smith.
The children are subject to a frightful de-gree of sickness and mortality. This is the combined result of the gross sensuality of the parents, and want of care toward their offspring. As a general rule, these saintly pretenders take as little care of their wives as of their children; and of both, less than a careful farmer in the States would of his cattle: and nowhere out of the 'Five Points' in New York City can a more filthy, misera-ble, neglected- looking, and disorderly rab-ble of children be found than in the streets of Great Salt Lake City. The Governor, again, whose attention to his multifarious family we are bound to suppose greater than the average, affords a fair illustration.—He was twice lawfully married, and has had eight legitimate children, who are all living He has had a large number of children by his concubines—no one knows how many—it is only known that there are only twenty-two surviving. These females do not re-side in the 'Governor's house,' so called, but in different establishments, from one up to a dozen in a place."'
PROGRESS OF INDECENCY.
"Their system of plurality has obliterated nearly all sense of decency, and would seem to be fast leading to an intercourse open and promiscuous as the cattle in the fields A man living in common with a dozen dirty Arabs, whether he calls them wives or con-cubines, cannot have a very nice sense of propriety. It is difficult, to give a true ac-count of the effects which have resulted from this cause, and at the same time, pre-serve decency of language. The Saints are progressive. Last year (1852) they seri-ously discussed the subject of introducing a new order into the Church, by which the wives of absent missionaries might be sealed to Saints left at home. There are a num-ber of cases in which a man has taken a widow and her daughter for wives at the same time. One has a widow and her two daughters. There are also instances of the niece being sealed to the uncle, and they ex-cite no more attention than any ordinary case. How far the plague-spot is to spread in this direction remains to be seen. Brig-ham Young stated in the pulpit, in 1852, that the time might come when, for the sake of keeping the lineage of the priest-hood unbroken, marriages would be con-fined to the same families; as, for instance, the son of one mother would marry the daughter of another by the same father.—There has been some talk of going even be-yond this, and allowing the father to seal his own daughter to himself."
THE HAREMS OF THE PRIESTHOOD.
"The high-priest dignataries of the Church are exceedingly skillful in procuring young girls for wives. They inculcate the idea that elderly members, who have been tried and found faithful, are surer instru-ments of salvation than the young, who may apostatize; and as marriage to one who re-mains steadfast to the end is essential to es-cape of being mere angels, a great many young women are fooled into this bubbling and seething caldron of prostitution. Elder Wilford Woodruff, one of the twelve apos-tles, has a regular system of changing his harem. He takes in one or more young girls and so manages, after he tires of them, that they are glad to ask for a divorce, after which he beats the bush for recruits. He took a fresh one, about fourteen years old, in March, 1853, and will probably get rid of her in the course of the ensuing Summer. These manoeuvers are practiced more or less by the whole gang; the girls discarded by one become sealed to others, and so trav-el the entire rounds; and when they accom-plish the whole circuit, and are ready to start anew, they have a profoundly 'realiz-ing sense' of female modesty, to say nothing of some of its adjuncts."
THE MORMON WIFE.
"A wife, in Utah, cannot live out half her days. In families where polygamy has not been introduced, she suffers an agony of apprehension on the subject which can scarcely be conceived, much more described. There is a sad, complaining, suffering look, obvious to the most ordinary observer, which tells the story, if there were no other evi-dence on the subject. In most eases it is producing premature old age, and some have already sunk into an early grave under an intolerable weight of affliction. The man, from the moment he makes up his mind to bring one or more concubines into the fami-ly, becomes always neglectful, and in most cases abusive to his wife."

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POLYGAMY.
ITS EFFECTS AMONG THE MORMONS.
Mr. Ferris, who has lived in Utah, has re-cently published a book upon the Mormons and their institutions. He thus speaks of the effects of polygamy upon their
DOMESTIC ECONOMY.
"Polygamy is introducing a new style of building at Salt Lake City. A man with half a dozen wives builds, it he can, a long, low dwelling, having six entrances from the outside; and when he takes in a new wife, if able to do so, adds another apartment.—The object is to keep the women and ba-bies, as much as possible, apart, and prevent those terrible cat-fights which sometimes oc-cur, with all the accompaniments of Bill-ings gate, torn caps, and broken broom-sticks. As the 'divine institution' extends, these buildings increase, and in a few years the city will look like a collection of bar-racks for the accommodation of soldiers.—Some have separate buildings in parts of the dty remote from each other, and others have farm-houses, and the wives are thus kept separate, the husband dividing his time between them all."
EFFECT OF POLYGAMY UPON POPULATION.
"The effect upon population is decidedly deleterious. The prophet Joseph had over forty wives at Nauvoo, and the rest of the priesthood had various numbers, corres-ponding to their standing and inclinations; and nearly all the children of these polyga-mous marriages died at that plac; indeed, it is alleged by Mormons that not one was taken to Utah. Brigham Young has thirty children, of whom eight are by his first and second lawful wives; the remaining twenty-two are by his spirituals. He has about fif-ty wives, some of whom were widows of Joseph Smith.
The children are subject to a frightful de-gree of sickness and mortality. This is the combined result of the gross sensuality of the parents, and want of care toward their offspring. As a general rule, these saintly pretenders take as little care of their wives as of their children; and of both, less than a careful farmer in the States would of his cattle: and nowhere out of the 'Five Points' in New York City can a more filthy, misera-ble, neglected- looking, and disorderly rab-ble of children be found than in the streets of Great Salt Lake City. The Governor, again, whose attention to his multifarious family we are bound to suppose greater than the average, affords a fair illustration.—He was twice lawfully married, and has had eight legitimate children, who are all living He has had a large number of children by his concubines—no one knows how many—it is only known that there are only twenty-two surviving. These females do not re-side in the 'Governor's house,' so called, but in different establishments, from one up to a dozen in a place."'
PROGRESS OF INDECENCY.
"Their system of plurality has obliterated nearly all sense of decency, and would seem to be fast leading to an intercourse open and promiscuous as the cattle in the fields A man living in common with a dozen dirty Arabs, whether he calls them wives or con-cubines, cannot have a very nice sense of propriety. It is difficult, to give a true ac-count of the effects which have resulted from this cause, and at the same time, pre-serve decency of language. The Saints are progressive. Last year (1852) they seri-ously discussed the subject of introducing a new order into the Church, by which the wives of absent missionaries might be sealed to Saints left at home. There are a num-ber of cases in which a man has taken a widow and her daughter for wives at the same time. One has a widow and her two daughters. There are also instances of the niece being sealed to the uncle, and they ex-cite no more attention than any ordinary case. How far the plague-spot is to spread in this direction remains to be seen. Brig-ham Young stated in the pulpit, in 1852, that the time might come when, for the sake of keeping the lineage of the priest-hood unbroken, marriages would be con-fined to the same families; as, for instance, the son of one mother would marry the daughter of another by the same father.—There has been some talk of going even be-yond this, and allowing the father to seal his own daughter to himself."
THE HAREMS OF THE PRIESTHOOD.
"The high-priest dignataries of the Church are exceedingly skillful in procuring young girls for wives. They inculcate the idea that elderly members, who have been tried and found faithful, are surer instru-ments of salvation than the young, who may apostatize; and as marriage to one who re-mains steadfast to the end is essential to es-cape of being mere angels, a great many young women are fooled into this bubbling and seething caldron of prostitution. Elder Wilford Woodruff, one of the twelve apos-tles, has a regular system of changing his harem. He takes in one or more young girls and so manages, after he tires of them, that they are glad to ask for a divorce, after which he beats the bush for recruits. He took a fresh one, about fourteen years old, in March, 1853, and will probably get rid of her in the course of the ensuing Summer. These manoeuvers are practiced more or less by the whole gang; the girls discarded by one become sealed to others, and so trav-el the entire rounds; and when they accom-plish the whole circuit, and are ready to start anew, they have a profoundly 'realiz-ing sense' of female modesty, to say nothing of some of its adjuncts."
THE MORMON WIFE.
"A wife, in Utah, cannot live out half her days. In families where polygamy has not been introduced, she suffers an agony of apprehension on the subject which can scarcely be conceived, much more described. There is a sad, complaining, suffering look, obvious to the most ordinary observer, which tells the story, if there were no other evi-dence on the subject. In most eases it is producing premature old age, and some have already sunk into an early grave under an intolerable weight of affliction. The man, from the moment he makes up his mind to bring one or more concubines into the fami-ly, becomes always neglectful, and in most cases abusive to his wife."